


All Along

by nordopolica



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route Spoilers, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Time Skip, Silver Snow Route, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 09:43:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20289403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nordopolica/pseuds/nordopolica
Summary: Byleth and Edelgard walk separate paths. That doesn't mean that they can't fool themselves, however briefly, into thinking otherwise.





	All Along

Peace and quiet, at last.

Though she had so far adored her time at the academy, Byleth often found herself wanting for moments of silence. For this reason she liked the nights best, when she could wander the grounds, or sit in her room, or do anything that involved sitting, quiet, alone. Well, mostly alone.

_ “Finally - silence _ . _ ” _ Sothis’ voice resounded through her head.  _ “How could one possibly get any rest with one student after another flinging you across the dancefloor?” _

Byleth leaned over the stone balcony which opened up onto the fire-lit skyline of Garreg Mach. She had never truly taken the time to acquaint herself with the Goddess Tower, and standing here now she had to wonder why not.

_ “Although, it wasn’t so bad, was it? I dare say you were enjoying yourself,”  _ said Sothis.

Even here the orchestra’s soft White Heron Waltz issuing from the ballroom cut through the silence of the night. Byleth closed her eyes and listened. Soon she would head back to the ball for round two - but not yet.

“Yeah. I was,” she muttered.

“Professor?”

Byleth’s eyes snapped open, and she turned to greet her visitor. She had recognised the voice at once, and as she saw Edelgard climb the last of the steps to the tower’s balcony she mustered a smile and a small nod of acknowledgement.

“So this is where you disappeared to.” Edelgard expelled a quiet huff of laughter. She looked just as tired as Byleth felt, but her smile, which had persisted throughout the night, brightened her entire face. “You left a lot of disappointed students back in the hall.”

“How come they’re never this enthusiastic in class?” Byleth breathed.. Coming from anyone else, it might have sounded like a joke.

Edelgard laughed regardless. She approached the balcony, coming up beside her teacher. Her slender hands lifted to rest on the stone balustrade.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she said.

Byleth shook her head. “Just needed some air.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I joined you for a short while?”

“Not at all.”

Silence passed between them for a moment, though not an uncomfortable one. The teacher and student had spent enough time in each other’s company to know when words were necessary or not. In that moment they simply enjoyed the night air, side by side.

She was comfortable with Edelgard -- uncharacteristically so. She felt at ease with her, almost as much as with Jeralt. Which was a strange thing to note, mind, given that she had known Jeralt all her life. Edelgard was comparatively a stranger, and yet they had become so close in so short a time. 

All of her students had had an effect on her, but Edelgard especially so. Perhaps it was simply because, as the leader of her house, they had spent more time together. Or perhaps it was something else -- perhaps, on some cosmic level, the two women were cut from the same cloth.

“This place, the Goddess Tower. It was important to my parents. Coming here is a little strange, if I’m being honest,” Edelgard spoke softly. 

Byleth glanced at her, and found that she was staring wistfully out across the monastery grounds.

“They met here, when my mother was enrolled at the Officer’s Academy. They say it was love at first sight - the first time either of them had ever fallen in love.”

She met Byleth’s earnest stare and smiled warmly. “Have you ever been in love, Professor?”

Byleth paused. She cast her gaze skyward and drew her mouth into a tight line, deep in thought. She sorted through memories of her past encounters - of all the people she had met as a mercenary, traveling by Jeralt’s side. But though she had definitely shared tender feelings and moments with some of them, she could hardly claim that love had been among them.

So she shook her head and shrugged at the same time, and instead asked, “What about you?”

“Ha,” Edelgard breathed. “I suppose I should’ve expected that as a follow-up. As a matter of fact, I have. It was a long time ago, though, and I can’t say that anything came of it. Some might have called it puppy love - the passing whims of children.”

She continued: “Again I find myself being so open with you about my past, and you seem content to just listen.” Her lips parted to accommodate a tiny sigh of laughter. “Just one time, we’ll have to reverse that. I would like to know more about your life, my teacher.”

Her smile faded slightly, turning wry. A shadow seemed to pass over her face for the briefest of moments, but it was gone before Byleth could interpret it.

“Recently I’ve felt increasingly nostalgic for that time,” she said. “That childhood love of mine. Perhaps it’s being here, at the Academy, or perhaps it’s being among so many people my own age for once.”

Edelgard’s hands tensed on the balustrade. Her fingers drew inward into her palm, and her tendons protruded softly from beneath her pale skin. “Or… I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s something else.”

Byleth watched her placidly, her expression flat as ever. But when one of Edelgard’s hands slid abruptly across to lay over one of Byleth’s, a flash of  _ something _ must have passed over her face, because just like that, her touch was gone.

“Forgive me,” Edelgard spluttered, as she snatched her hand away. “I’m not quite sure what I was thinking.”

Byleth shook her head. “It’s okay.”

“No, that was inappropriate of me. I - We should probably be heading back inside, anyway. I wouldn’t want to keep you any longer.”

Edelgard turned on her heel swiftly. 

It had been inappropriate, Byleth thought. It was inappropriate. Yet even so, Byleth reached out and caught Edelgard by the wrist as she made to retreat.

They stopped there. Byleth’s hand clamped around Edelgard’s wrist, the other still resting atop the cold stone. Edelgard turned over her shoulder, mouth slightly ajar, her legs still caught mid-stride. A moment passed of pure silence. Had Byleth not known better, she would have said that the orchestra had ceased its festive set.

It was against either of their better judgements. The silence between them was heavy with an unspoken conversation, each of them offering points and counterpoints, weighing up the strength of their decisions.

Edelgard, it seemed, would bear it no more. With one movement she closed the distance between them, and captured her teacher in a kiss.

It was short. Their lips connected, then reconnected with fervour, then just as intensely broke apart and stayed there, inches from each other, as the two women searched for the proper course of action.

Byleth’s hands were laying either side of her student’s waist; Edelgard’s hands were clasped at the back of her teacher’s neck. It was, needless to say, a situation that neither of them had prepared for, nor knew how to deal with. 

“I had hoped to approach that with more tact,” Edelgard finally said, deep under her breath. “Or avoid it altogether.”

“Avoid it?” asked Byleth.

“It would hardly do for us to… Well. Perhaps I was getting ahead of myself.” She unlinked her fingers and pulled away, out of Byleth’s grasp. “Regardless, I… I don’t mind you knowing my true feelings. I can’t say I’m well-versed in matters of the heart, but at the very least…”

She heaved a deep sigh, and buried her face in her hands for a moment before lifting it to look resolutely into Byleth’s deep blue eyes.

“The path I walk is difficult, my teacher. If I am to achieve all that I want to do, I must… There are sacrifices. And besides that, there is so much work yet to be done. I have never put much stock in my desires, beyond what I feel I must do,” she said. “But being here, with you, has made me… want. More than I ever have -- more than I ought to.”

“Would it be possible...” Byleth started. She hesitated. Every reasonable bone in her body was telling her that it would be better -- or perhaps more responsible -- to leave this as it was. But she had come too far now, and the affection she felt for Edelgard was, in this moment… overpowering. Like nothing she had felt before.

She took Edelgard by the hand. “...to walk that path together?”

Edelgard’s lips curled into a smile, but her eyes were still dark. Troubled. “Truthfully, I would like nothing more. But…”

“When we first met, you offered me a place in service of the empire,” said Byleth. “I am, at my core, a mercenary born and raised. I would have no objections to taking a commission from the future emperor. Besides, with all of you gone, I can’t imagine much will tie me to Garreg Mach.”

“It’s a nice idea,” Edelgard laughed softly. “You and I on the same side, no matter how many enemies I might amass. I would do anything to ensure that it worked out that way.”

She squeezed Byleth’s hand, bringing her face level with her teacher’s. They could have kissed again, right then and there, but if either woman intended to, they did not make a move. 

After a pause, she continued: “Whatever happens, my teacher… please don’t make any promises you can’t keep.”

Byleth smiled, small and ashen. “Let’s head back to the ballroom, shall we? I’ve one more dance left in me.”

  
  


* * *

Jeralt was dead. He was dead. The only person that Byleth had known for her entire life. The only person to whom she had ever felt entirely close. Her father. Dead.

She had been crying for a long time -- she didn’t care to find out how long. On her bed, facing the wall, she had the minutes, hours, days, pass without caring. When someone came to her room, she sent them away with silence. When food was brought, she refused to eat.

She would not open her door for anyone. Well -- anyone, bar one.

“Professor.”

Edelgard’s voice was muffled through the door. Her knocks came after, three firm raps against the wood that broke the painful silence of Byleth’s room. 

She had only just pulled herself out of bed when the call came. Perhaps she was feeling a little more motivated in this particular moment -- or perhaps it was Edelgard’s voice in which she took some comfort. Either way, she moved languidly to the door, and opened it a crack.

It opened onto Edelgard’s face, pale white, set against the stark black evening. She regarded Byleth with a furrowed brow and a nod.

“You’ve been crying,” she said.

Byleth said nothing. She was not sure if she could even muster words. She turned and retreated into her room, leaving the door open for Edelgard to follow.

“I’ve never seen you cry before. I suppose I might’ve thought it was impossible. Oh… Was that thoughtless of me?”

Byleth sat on the edge of her bed. She swallowed hard, her gaze set in her lap. “Yes. It was.”

“I only meant,” said Edelgard. She moved cautiously to Byleth’s side and, after a moment’s pause, took a seat. “I thought you were stronger than this. Would you stay here forever, hoping to happen upon a cure for your grief? We still have so much to do -- now more than ever. The time is almost upon us to --”

“Edelgard.” A warning. Byleth’s body tensed up. Her hands gripped the material of her pants, washing her knuckles white. Edelgard lay her hands atop them.

“I want to help you, my teacher,” she breathed. “But I can’t do that by offering you pity. I won’t do you the disservice of my sympathy. All I can do is promise you a path to walk. I’m not asking for you not to grieve. I only ask that you stop your tears. Stop idling in your misery. If we are to walk together, then we must do just that.”

One of Edelgard’s hands trailed upwards, up Byleth’s wrist, her arm, her shoulder, to gently cup the professor’s cheek. She drew Byleth’s gaze toward her, and leaned in close. Her thumb grazed Byleth’s lips. Seconds passed, and when no objection came, Edelgard kissed her deeply.

This time there was no hesitation. They stayed there for a long time, their arms around each other, their lips intertwined. When Byleth began to cry, Edelgard made no comment. She simply held her teacher close, and kissed the tears away.

* * *

  
  


“I am the Flame Emperor.”

Byleth stood before Edelgard, frozen in place. The Sword of the Creator lay limp in her hand. Behind her, though the sound was lost to her, a battle raged. Her students, the Academy staff, and the Knights of Seiros, were fighting for their lives. Against the empire. Against Edelgard.

She had cut her way through the vanguard to where Edelgard stood, axe in hand, and then, when combat seemed inevitable, they had stopped.

Edelgard extended her hand. “My teacher,” she called, her tone pleading. “I’m begging you. I don’t care if everyone in the world is against me, but please, you must understand!”

But Byleth did not understand. She would not. She could not reconcile the face of the young woman to whom she had grown so close with the garb of the villain she so loathed. She could not reconcile Edelgard with the murderous fiends she had been hunting.

Images skipped through her head, piecing themselves together like patchwork. The Flame Emperor standing before her and Jeralt, asking for their help. The Flame Emperor speaking with the white-skinned man who had allowed Jeralt to die. With Monica, who had been responsible for his death. The people who had killed Jeralt. Her father.

Edelgard had let him die. Edelgard had as good as killed him.

And then she had had the gall to come to Byleth as she wept. She had the gall to approach her as a friend. As a lover. She had told her to pull herself together and move on under the guise of comfort. The nerve.

Byleth’s hand tightened on the hilt of her sword. She stared at Edelgard and saw only the face of betrayal. 

Edelgard reached for her. “My teacher -- Byleth!”

Byleth wanted to kill her. It would have been easy to. Deep inside her Sothis’ power pulsed, like a heartbeat, ready to be harnessed. She felt a pressure build in the hand that gripped the Sword of the Creator -- felt her Crest Stone whirr within her.

She stepped forward. Once, twice. She watched, blankly, as Edelgard’s brow lifted. Her expression seemed to lighten with each step Byleth took toward her. 

“Quickly!” Edelgard said, her mouth curling into a hesitant smile. “We must--”

Byleth lunged at her. She brought the Sword of the Creator up, and aimed for Edelgard’s heart. Edelgard blocked the slash just in time. Bone met steel as their weapons clashed, Byleth pushing fiercely against her former student, Edelgard bent backwards in defense. 

In one snap of movement Byleth tore one hand off the sword’s hilt and clenched it instead around a ball of magic fire. She swiped it at Edelgard -- her former student ducked and rolled back, narrowly avoiding Byleth’s blade when she brought it down powerfully.

Byleth would not relent so easily. She willed it, and the sword obliged. The vertebrae of its blade unlinked to form a heavy, glowing whip. She launched it at Edelgard, and it wound around the body of her axe, pulling it out of her hands.

Byleth ran to close the distance that had been created between them. Edelgard was still clambering for purchase when the professor caught her -- her collar gripped tightly in the older woman’s hand; the glow of the Sword of the Creator, now reformed, burning at the edge of her vision.

The professor wanted to kill her. She could have -- easily. She had seen how Edelgard fought; she knew every move in the new emperor’s repository; she had even taught her some of it. And she knew, above all, that she was stronger.

But when she had Edelgard by the throat, her blade hovering in the air above, ready to be brought down, she stopped.

And she wasn’t completely sure why.

In a flash of red, Hubert was standing behind Edelgard.

“Lady Edelgard -- we must go. Now!” he called.

Edelgard took the opportunity afforded by the distraction and kicked, sending Byleth onto her back. Freed, she hurried to Hubert’s side. The last thing Byleth saw before her two students disappeared was Edelgard looking after her, pale eyes swimming with disappointment.

**Author's Note:**

> IS please give me a DLC route where I can make all my children happy  
AKA  
when you're a silver snow fan but also gay


End file.
